WASHINGTON, D.C. (MPG) – On Sept. 5, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced $152,108,602 in grants for California as part of $1 billion in grants through President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for the Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) program. The funding will go directly to 354 local, regional, and tribal communities across the country, including 51 in California, to improve roadway safety and prevent deaths and serious injuries on America’s rural and urban roads, including some of the most dangerous in the country. 

The announcement – a key component of DOT’s comprehensive National Roadway Safety Strategy launched in 2022 – is paired with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s release of its early estimates of traffic fatalities for the first half of 2024, estimating that traffic fatalities declined for the ninth straight quarter. An estimated 18,720 people died in motor vehicle traffic crashes, a decrease of about 3.2 percent as compared to 19,330 fatalities projected to have occurred in the first half of 2023. Fatalities declined in both the first and second quarters of 2024.   

Even with road fatalities decreasing over the past nine quarters straight, they remain far too high. Over 40,000 people have died on U.S. roads in each of the last three years, and a disproportionate number of people are killed in rural areas or while walking or bicycling. Additionally, traffic fatalities remain a leading cause of death for school-aged children and young adults.  

“Through new funding programs like Safe Streets and Roads for All, the Biden-Harris Administration is helping communities of all sizes make their roadways safer for everyone who uses them,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “We should be energized by the fact that together we’ve reduced traffic fatalities for more than two years in a row now – but so much work remains to fully address the crisis on our roads. Today’s roadway safety grants will deliver funding directly to 354 communities and continue the important work we’re doing to reduce traffic fatalities to the only number that’s acceptable: zero.”    

“The SS4A program gives local and tribal governments the resources to plan and implement the safety improvements that will make the most difference in their communities,” said U.S. Transportation Deputy Secretary Polly Trottenberg. “They know what is best, and this program leverages that local expertise to save lives.”  

The Safe Streets and Roads for All program provides grants directly to communities for implementation, planning, and demonstration projects aimed at preventing deaths and serious injuries on the nation’s roadways. Since launching in 2022, SS4A has funded projects in more than 1,400 communities, supporting roadway safety for nearly 75% of the U.S. population. 

Additionally, SS4A is making historic investments in rural and underserved communities, and many of this year’s awards will address critical safety hot spots on some of the country’s most dangerous roads. The projects and activities aim to improve safety for all roadway users, including drivers, passengers, pedestrians and students heading back to school, bicyclists, transit users, and people with disabilities.  

With this round of announced awards: 

Rural communities comprise around half of all SS4A grant award recipients to date. 

682 SS4A communities (43% of award recipients) have populations under 50,000. 

793 SS4A award recipients (50% of all recipients to date) were new direct Federal funding recipients to USDOT. 

Over half of SS4A funds will benefit underserved communities, providing equitable investment to places that need funding the most. 

View a fact sheet on today’s awards here. Communities and projects being awarded funding in California this round include:  

The City of Long Beach was awarded $25,000,000 for the Pacific Avenue Protected Bike Lanes Project to make safety improvements on Pacific Avenue, a 2-mile corridor connecting residents, businesses, and visitors to LA Metro public transit stations and local destinations such as Downtown Long Beach, the Long Beach Convention Center, and Long Beach City College.  

The City of Milpitas was awarded $2,900,000 for the Milpitas Safe Routes to School project to implement systemic, citywide, pedestrian and cyclist safety improvements at 38 intersections in the vicinity of schools. The City of Milpitas is higher than the statewide average for crashes involving intersections, aggressive driving, and vulnerable road users. Improvements include warning beacons, speed feedback signs, safety lighting, raised medians and pedestrian refuge islands, ADA curb ramps and bulb-outs, advanced stop bars, restriping, raised pavement markers, pedestrian barricades, and signage.  

The City of Palmdale was awarded $5,382,164 for the 20th Street East Corridor Improvement Project, funding improvements to a 1.92-mile segment of a major five-lane throughfare. The City will add a new sidewalk, a bike lane, an enhanced crosswalk with bulb outs and a pedestrian signal, additional lighting, and a reconstruction of a dangerous intersection. 

The City of San Bernardino was awarded $5,279,592 for the Plan to Action: Revitalizing Roadway Safety in San Bernardino project to design and construct safety countermeasures at five high-risk locations that have high collision rates and a high incidence of fatalities or severe injuries, or that have proximity to schools and residential areas.  

The City of Stockton was awarded $8,414,562 for the SS4A Implementation Grant for the Main and Market Complete Streets Project to complete the Main and Market Complete Streets Project. This corridor, located entirely in underserved areas, serves as a vital link between communities east of Highway 99 and Downtown Stockton, underscoring the importance of these improvements in promoting equality through enhanced connectivity and mobility.  

The City of Vacaville was awarded $11,020,000 for the Safe Streets for Vacaville project to implement roadway safety and multimodal improvements to facilitate access to key community destinations such as businesses, retail, health care clinics, and public amenities. The project will address two high-injury corridors within an area in the north part of the city. 

Los Angeles County was awarded $29,805,830 for the Safer Steps for LA County Pedestrians project, which implements pedestrian safety improvements at 77 intersections, all of which experience higher-than-average rates of pedestrian fatalities and severe injuries. The project will implement high-visibility crosswalks, curb extensions, and pedestrian signal improvements including leading pedestrian intervals and rectangular rapid-flashing beacons.  

The City of Riverside was awarded $7,448,000 for the City of Riverside Neighborhood Safety Investment Project to implement safety improvements at 4 of the 6 intersections on its high-injury network. Crash data analysis highlights that the city experiences more total traffic fatalities, and more per capita traffic fatalities, than any other city in the county, including pedestrian fatalities. 

The Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit District (SMART) was awarded $7,000,000 for the SMART Pathway to Opportunity: Santa Rosa to the Sonoma County Airport Project. The Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit District (SMART) is awarded $7 million in funding to close a 4.73-mile gap in the SMART multi-use pathway that allows people to travel to, within, and between the communities and SMART rail stations along its passenger rail and pathway corridor. The additional pathway provides a safe, multimodal alternative to the parallel U.S. Interstate 101.  

The Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles was awarded $10,960,000 for the Wilmington Avenue Vision Zero Revitalization Project. The Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles is awarded $10.9 million in funding to improve safety on Wilmington Avenue, a major North-South arterial road, in South Los Angeles. This project will introduce high-visibility crosswalks, ADA curb ramps, protected bike lanes, enhanced street lighting, and traffic calming measures along Wilmington Avenue to improve safety.  

California also received $22,898,454 for 40 safety planning and demonstration projects. 

View the full list of today’s awards here.  

The third and final round of this year’s SS4A grant awards is expected to be announced in November. View more information on the SS4A program.